I have another TiVo HD that's not in use. Can I either transfer my lifetime to the other box or pull the HD from the good one and put it in the box with Lifetime? I'm assuming it's the HD that's dying.

And have your cable card(s) re-paired -- which should require just a phone call.

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I have another TiVo HD that's not in use. Can I either transfer my lifetime to the other box or pull the HD from the good one and put it in the box with Lifetime? I'm assuming it's the HD that's dying.

Thanks!

The lifetime sub is tied to the TiVo Service Number of that particular unit, and that's built into the motherboard, so to speak.

(There's a place somewhere in the TiVo software on the hard drive where it's duplicated, but you can't move it by moving the hard drive.)

Actually it's on (or in) one of the integrated circuits soldered to the motherboard, and up through the model before yours, the original Series 3, it was a on a separate crypto chip which could, with difficulty, be unsoldered and moved to another motherboard from the same model.

Starting with the HD they built it into the CPU itself, and that's soldered onto the motherboard by a technique that you generally aren't going to be able to work with anywhere outside an expensive lab with expensive specialized equipment.

So let's see if we can diagnose what's wrong with your lifetimed unit.

Exactly what happens when you plug in the power cord?

Is it connected to the TV via HDMI cable?

If so, have you tried with component or composite connection instead?

Do you have a PC with a SATA port to which you could connect the hard drive? Or a USB adapter?

I've never looked into upgrading a TiVo, I have an unused 2TB drive lying around. Could I upgrade it with that? Would it just be a matter of cloning the good TiVo drive onto the 2TB one?

It's a little more complicated than a direct clone, but the process is similar.
Start by reading this thread and following the directions. You should be able to handle it.

Edit: IIRC, due to a change in the 11.0k TiVo software, it is now possible to use WinMFS to upgrade to a 2TB hard drive, if you wish to go that route. It might be preferable to using JMFS, since you have to use WinMFS to do the supersize step anyway.
Follow the instructions here:http://www.mfslive.org/winmfs/quickstart.htm
If using Windows 7, you need to right click the WinMFS executable and "Run as Administrator".
Only difference, when you get to step 10, you will want to click "No" when asked to expand the drive.
Once the process is finished, you go back and use Mfsadd as a separate step from the Tools menu to expand the drive.

While you have your Tivos open, be sure to eye-ball the power supplies for any bulging capacitors.

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I don't think he will have to re-pair. The cc is staying in the same chassis / motherboard.

In most but not all cable systems he will have to re-pair the card, for whatever reason a C&D all on the same drive will make you re-pair the cable card even if you use the same drive again. The Cable Card data will change, so if that causes your cable co to have to re-pair the card so be it.

Did a clear and delete of the replacement drive and after guided setup, everything worked!

Thanks for the help!

Do you pay for any premium channels ? if not you may not know that your card in not pared or your cable system does not check the cable card data. If you look at the cable card pairing info and the VAL has a ? the card is not paired, it should have a V.

Sounds like the first one is going to be your barrier of entry, so to speak.
When your Tivo tries to start up, what does it do?
Does the Tivo reboot during the first welcome screen, or do you get to the second screen that says "just a few more minutes"?

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My TiVo try's to start up but keeps rebooting. Can I back up my saved shows to another TiVo?

You should also tell us which model (TCD???) Series 3 TiVo you have, whether it's still running the original internal hard drive, whether you are or were using an external drive with it as well, whether there are cable cards involved, and whether there is a tuning adapter (TA) involved, and since the number one problem with Series 2 and Series 3 TiVos these days is bad capacitors in the power supply (which can cause all sorts of symptoms), do you own a voltmeter or any soldering equipment, and do you have about $10 to spare for replacement capacitors?